Picking up the pieces
by Nyx the Coyote Kit
Summary: I listen to the shower in the next room, water falling irregularly as a body moves underneath it. In a few moments, he'll leave the bathroom, clad only in a towel draped on his shoulders. This ritual is old. This routine, this... us meeting like this. In this hotel. In this room. On this bed. - sort of a follow-up to "Heartmending"


I'm sitting on the bed again, a cigarette dangling from my lips. I rarely smoke, very rarely, but I can't deny it's a nasty habit of mine. I exhale slowly, watching the thin smoke dancing towards the ceiling. I listen to the shower in the next room, water falling irregularly as a body moves underneath it. In a few moments, he'll leave the bathroom, clad only in a towel draped on his shoulders. He'll go directly to the kitchen. If he comes back with a glass of water, it's a good day. If it's a beer, things aren't going so well. This ritual is old. This routine, this... us meeting like this. In this hotel. In this room. On this bed. We've done this so many times, I can tell whether he's in a mood to talk or not, how long we'll talk before he tires of it... He doesn't talk much, though over the years he's started to open up more and more. I exhale while chuckling softly. I suppose I'll miss this. I stub my cig out just as the water stops in the bathroom. I stretch a little, opening an eye as the door opens and he steps out. Absently, I follow a droplet fall from his dripping hair, escape the towel and roll lazily down his toned body. Ah yes, I'll miss this, but it's a good sacrifice.

"What are you smiling about?"

I raise my eyes from the droplet now on his leg and to his dark orbs. "Hm... well... I was thinking about stuff," I reply quietly.

"So you can actually think instead of shouting day in and day out."

"Voi! Don't start with this, you fucker! I don't want the boss to know I've come here again. Last time we fought, we completely destroyed the room and I'm still sore from the punishment when the boss saw the bill!"

"That's not my problem, idiot."

I watch as he walks off slowly, then comes back with a glass of water. He drains half of it, then walks to the other side of the bed. I watch silently as he puts the glass down on the small nightstand, then drops down to lounge on the fluffy bed. He yawns, then opens an eye to watch me.

"So, you gonna tell me what you were thinking about, or are you gonna leave me guessing?"

He started the conversation first, meaning he's in an extremely good mood. I smile seductively at him, crawling to sit on his stomach. "You first. You rarely meet with me when you're in such a good mood, it makes me curious."

"Curiosity killed the cat, you know.

"Lucky me, I'm not a cat. So, you finally caught your little bespectacled redhead?"

He sits up, forcing me to sit on his legs instead. "Not yet, but I did steal his lips right under his boss's nose."

"That's excellent! Do remember to let me know when the two of you finally hook up, I'll be sure to send you an interesting present." I grab his towel and start drying his hair. For some reason, he loves when I do this, though he never told me why.

"If you do that, I'll bite you to death. Warn that freak, too."

"Yeah, I'll tell Luss you said hi."

Lately, he's had his eyes on that red-headed, nervous wreck that's with the Millefiore. I think it feeds his superiority complex, and when the four-eyes gets serious, it intrigues him. Plus, there's the whole thrill of stealing that albino head's favourite person. From what I could understand of their situation, the redhead has been refusing his boss since forever, and that provided a perfect opportunity. It's been going slow, but smoothly between them, but I don't think they're going to last long. That redhead just doesn't have what it takes to keep him interested. But oh well, it really is none of my business.

"What about the other guys?", I ask him, letting the towel rest on his shoulders now that I am done with his hair.

"What other guys?"

Oh right. I always seem to forget he hates associating with other people. "Well, you know... It's just that news are sparce and that frog of ours doesn't share much intel."

"Frog?"

"Fran. I already told you he's sleeping with that bomber."

"Well who cares. It's none of my business what other people do of their own time. Besides, wouldn't you know better than I do, since you're seeing your student."

"Voi! That idiot? No way! It's only a front. We've kissed a few times and that's it. The rumors are still running about us because he's using it to cover who he's really sleeping around with."

"And who would that be?"

"Voi! If I knew that, I wouldn't be stressing over it!"

"So that's why you got back to smoking..."

"Tch, should have known you'd smell it right away."

"What's so stressing about it now? I've never seen you care about that rumor before."

"Stuff happened, okay!"

"Stuff that happen to make you want to end this business between us."

"Voi, how did you know?"

"You've got that look on your face. The same one you wore that time that stupid boss of yours gave you an earful worse than usual."

"Well this isn't the same!"

"You're right, you're not black and blue. So will you tell me what's up, or won't you? Either way, it won't make me lose sleep at all."

"Voi, shut your smart trap!"

His good moods always lead to situations like this... Though this time he seems more talkative than usual. Any other time, he'd already be pounding into me like there's no tomorrow, but he simply caresses my hips softly, his sharp eyes never straying from mine... It's really weird, and it's making me nervous. What's going on in his head? What's he up to?

"Alright, I'll go first, since you're so reluctant. That pineapple head is back in the picture," he growled, tightening his grip and making me hiss.

Ah yes. That illusionist who was once imprisoned in Vindice and recently got out thanks to the young tenth Vongola boss. It was, what... six months? No, more like a year ago. Xanxus got that highly interested glint in his eyes when he heard the news, though I haven't heard much else concerning the Vongola's Mist Guardian since then. Apparently I had missed an important piece of information, and that info irked this guy quite a bit.

"What of him?"

"He's the herbivore's new fuck toy."

I stare at him a bit incredulously. "Really? Voi, I'm beginning to think that Tsunayoshi is actually trying to compete with Xanxus on the number of bed partners, and actually succeeding in it... But what's got you so irked about it?"

"I haven't bitten that pineapple head to death yet, and now I've got to deal with the horde of herbivores every time I wanna try... It's infuriating."

"Is that why you've kept to Europe for a while?"

"Might as well, since I run into them less often over here."

"You're so antisocial..."

"Shut up. Now spill. What's on YOUR mind?"

I caress his toned abs with the tips of my fingers, chuckling as the muscles contract as though trying to get away from me, but his expression doesn't change. "Hmmm... well... stuff..."

"Stop being sneaky and get to the point, or I'll leave obvious marks on you and make sure the only way you're going back to your boss is _limping_," he growls menacingly.

I feel a shiver run down my spine at the prospect, though it's not out of fear. I know that if he said it, he'll do it, since he did it once before (best week of my life if you overlook the trip to the hospital I had to take after the boss "punished" me for having slept with another man). "It's just... the boss finally decided to take the next step in our relationship...", I say lightly, a smile on my lips and feeling somewhat giddy with joy all over again.

His angry frown becomes a look of surprised skepticism. "You sound and look like a schoolgirl right now."

I frown at him and smack his chest with the palms of my hands. "Shut up or you'll make me regret having a last time with you."

He smirks and moves his hands from my hips to my ass to massage it softly. "My bad. So, what did he do exactly?"

My smile comes back as I recall that afternoon alone with the boss in his room, him lounging on his sofa like the lazy cat he can be and me resting against him, getting lungfuls of his intoxicating scent, feeling the rumble of his voice vibrate through his chest as he speaks softly in my ear... "You know Tsunayoshi and the others are coming here to Italy in a few days, right?", I ask him, my feathery touches turning to sensual caresses.

He groans lightly, his hands squeezing my butt. "Yeah, that baby called to tell me. What of it?"

"Well... it was the boss's idea..."

He sighs in exasperation, his patience visibly wearing thin. One of his hands moves a little and I feel the tip of a finger getting adventurous. "And why, pray tell, would that asocial bastard want to invite those herbivores to his mansion?", he asks brusquely, nonetheless playing along.

"We're getting engaged... Well he already asked me, but he wanted to make it a big event to officialize it."

He freezes a moment, looking at me with those dark eyes wide in surprise. "So that's why the rumors bother you and you want to put an end to our sexual relationship," he says, wonder evident in his voice, though most people wouldn't have heard it. "The shark finally caught the liger... Aren't you worried? What with his habbit of sleeping with every remotely good-looking guy around..."

"I'm giving him until the day before the wedding. If he keeps it up afterwards, it's not his head I'll chop off. I already warned him and he gave me his word."

He smirks and swiftly pins me down on the matress. I shiver and squirm. This is going to get pretty messed up and violent. Just how we both like it. "Well then, since it's our last time together and also the last time you stray, let's fuck 'till the sun comes up."


End file.
